Access Credit Union made a sizeable donation earlier this month to the Dominion City Recreation Committee.

The committee choose to make some economical upgrades to the Dominion City Arena over the last year with the hope of saving money in the future by reducing the overall operating costs to the facility. The project involved converting the original high wattage bulbs to LED lighting that would maintain the brightness of the rink, but potentially reduce the cost of lighting by half.

The total cost of the project was approximately $25,000. Jason Mateychuk, president of the recreation committee, said the funds received from Access Credit Union earlier this month will go toward reducing the project's debt.

"Access decided to support the project in the amount of $2,500. The upgrades are complete and were finished in 2016. Since then, we have added some motion sensor switches, so the lights are never accidentally left on. Now it's just a matter of finding a way to make sure the bill is all paid. So far it's going well. We also received donations from the Dominion City Sturgeon Foundation for $2,000 and a $5,000 donation from Roseau River First Nations Reserve in support of the project."

Mateychuk noted, the upgrades to the facility are a big improvement.